


Heroes

by jetplane



Series: Quarantink [7]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Death, Episode: s04e24 Amplification, Explicit Language, Gen, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24630724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetplane/pseuds/jetplane
Summary: in which Reid's anthrax symptoms progress just a little bit more quickly and the cure doesn't come in time(alternatively, why you should never call someone a hero in front of Derek Morgan)
Relationships: Derek Morgan & Spencer Reid
Series: Quarantink [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687318
Comments: 8
Kudos: 132





	Heroes

The sunlight is bright as the two agents enter the rose garden, and Reid squints slightly as he surveys his surroundings. At the sound of a phone ringing, he turns around. It’s Morgan’s.

He continues on as he hears his partner flip the phone open to answer. “Yeah, Prentiss, what’s up?”

Reid pushes open the door to the house, glancing around. He spots a sliding glass door, behind which is Nichols’ lab. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. He spots a sliding glass door to the lab and pushes it open without a second thought. The surroundings are pretty much what he’d expected. Desks, computers, microscopes, and stacks of Petri dishes.

“Reid?” Morgan’s voice floats into the lab. Hearing the worry in his tone, Reid spins around. His hip carelessly bumps into a table, and something crashes to the ground. The agent looks down, and for just a second, his world freezes.

There’s a vial of white powder on the floor, and it’s broken. He’s been exposed.

“Reid!”

Spencer hears footsteps, and they snap him out of his trance. Derek is coming, and he can’t let him get exposed. Reid races to the sliding door and slams it shut just in time. “Morgan, get - get back! Get back!”

Morgan stares at him through the glass with wide eyes, not understanding. “What are you doing?” He tries to open the door. “What’s wrong?”

“No, don’t!” Reid warns as Morgan pulls on the handle. “Believe me, get back!” With shaking fingers, he fumbles with the lock on the door. He has to protect his partner.

Morgan jiggles the handle frantically. “Reid, open the door,” he demands.

Reid finally secures the lock and looks up at Derek. The two men stare into each other’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” Reid breathes, because there’s nothing else he can say. He turns away, the desperate look on his partner’s face almost more painful than the thought of being locked in this room with a deadly bioweapon.

-

“Reid took Cipro today, so he’s gotta be fine. Right?” He looks from General Whitworth to Hotch for reassurance but finds none.

“I don’t know,” Aaron admits. “It was precautionary.”

“It’s not helping patients at the hospital,” the general warns.

“Yeah, but they didn’t take it until after they were exposed,” Morgan insists. “Reid took it before.”

Whitworth frowns slightly. “Yeah, but we’ve never tested this strain on a Cipro-ready subject. We just don’t know.”

Hotch’s phone rings and he puts it on speaker so the others can hear. “Reid?”

Reid locks eyes with his supervisor through the window. “Hotch, I really messed up this time.”

The urgency in Hotch’s voice belies his concern. “Reid, we need to get you out and to the hospital.”

Spencer’s response comes without hesitation. “No. I’m staying right here.”

“No, you’re not, Reid,” Derek protests.

“I’m already exposed,” Reid argues, turning away so he can’t see the worried expressions through the window. “It’s not going to do me any good to stop working the case.”

“He’s already infected,” General Whitworth reasons. “Now, if Nichols created the strain, he may have also created the cure.”

“My best chance is to stay here, see if there’s a cure, and try to figure out who killed Dr. Nichols,” Spencer chimes in.

Morgan looks to his supervisor in shock. “Come on, Hotch, say something to him.”

Aaron pauses for a long moment to weigh their options. “He’s right. His best chance is inside.”

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he’s praying that he hasn’t just sentenced his agent to death.

-

Dr. Kimura watches Reid hang up the phone and immediately walks over to him. “Dr. Reid.”

He forces a smile. “You look nice.”

She laughs politely, looking down at her containment suit. “I haven’t been in this outfit for a while.”

“How are - how are the patients doing?” Reid asks. He can feel himself getting sicker. Whatever’s happening to him will almost certainly be in his future.

Kimura avoids the question, which tells him more than he wants to know. “Let’s worry about you,” she suggests.

“I actually - I feel fine,” Reid tells her quickly. His breathing is labored and his face is shiny with sweat. It doesn’t take a doctor to tell that he’s lying.

“Okay,” she says. “If you feel any pain, I could give you something.”

“I - I - I’d rather not take any pain medication.”

She presses on, gently. “We can at least make you feel more comfortable.”

“I am comfortable, and I don’t want to take any narcotics,” Reid blurts out. His tone comes out a little harsher than intended.

Dr. Kimura seems to understand what he means. “Okay,” she concedes. She knows the pain is only going to get worse, but she respects his wishes and doesn’t press the subject. “Tell me how I can help.”

Reid tells her what to look for. He calls Garcia and Morgan, and they help him profile the room. It’s around that time that his lungs start to get worse. As Spencer begins to cough, Garcia forces herself to remember what JJ said to her earlier. _He took Cipro. He’s got help. He’s going to be fine._ She breathes a sigh of relief when they finally figure out the partner’s identity.

“Kid, you did real good,” Morgan says, and the relief is evident in his voice as well. “Now get the hell out of there.”

Reid is just about to hang up when he’s overcome by a fit of coughing. A metallic taste fills his mouth, and the phone slips out of his grasp. The others can hear a loud noise as it crashes to the floor. “Reid? Garcia asks. “Reid, are you okay?”

He touches his lips and his fingers come back red. Dr. Kimura notices first. She drops the inhaler in her hand and hurries to his side. “Dr. Reid?”

Morgan rushes into the house. Over the phone, he can hear Garcia’s voice. “Morgan, what’s going on over there?”

“He’s getting worse,” Morgan reports grimly. “It looks like he’s coughing up blood.”

“Oh no,” Penelope breathes.

“I’m going to have to call you back.” Derek hangs up the phone and pounds on the glass. “Reid, are you okay? Talk to me!”

Reid manages a weak wave in Morgan’s direction as two of the scientists help him stand upright. They practically have to carry him out of the room.

Derek’s phone rings as they’re getting Spencer into the containment tent. Reluctantly, he tears his eyes away to look at the screen. It’s Hotch. “Morgan, I’ve sent Prentiss and Rossi to Brown’s house,” Hotch reports. “How’s Reid?”

“He’s getting worse, Hotch,” Morgan admits, lowering his voice. He turns away so Reid can’t see the worry in his expression. “He started coughing up blood when he was in the lab, and they had to rush him out.”

“Do they have him in the ambulance yet?”

Morgan watches as the scientists turn on the water. “Not yet. They’re hosing him down now.”

“Is Dr. Kimura with him?” Hotch asks.

Morgan is just about to answer when he hears a shout. Turning around with alarm, he sees Reid’s body on the ground, convulsing. One of the scientists protects his head from slamming against the ground.

Dr. Kimura waves down a medic from outside the tent. “I need diazepam,” Dr. Kimura calls.

“Morgan?” Hotch asks. ”What’s happening?”

“He - Reid’s having a seizure,” Morgan reports in a shaking voice. “Hotch, I’m going to have to call you back.”

“Keep me updated on his condition,” Aaron orders. “And stay with him.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Derek promises as he hangs up. He stares into the tent, helpless, as someone hands Dr. Kimura a syringe. She injects the medicine into Reid’s thigh, and mercifully, it does the trick. After a long moment, Reid stops seizing. Morgan lets out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding.

“Dr. Reid?” Kimura asks. “Dr. Reid, can you hear me?”

If he responds, Morgan can’t hear it. All he hears is Dr. Kimura talking to her subordinates. “Start scrubbing him down again,” she orders them. The hoses turn back on, and someone starts removing Reid’s clothing.

“What are you doing?” Morgan demands, pressing against the plastic partition.

A scientist approaches, his expression calm. “Agent Morgan, we need to make sure Dr. Reid is completely clean before we take him out of here. Otherwise, everyone in the vicinity could be at risk of infection.”

“But he just had a seizure! He needs to go to the hospital!”

“Agent, I can assure you that he’s in the best possible hands at the moment. We’ll transport him the moment it’s safe to do so.” He turns back away, leaving Morgan alone.

Somebody spots the blood on the back of Reid’s hand. “What’s this?”

Dr. Kimura inspects the wound and then curses under her breath. “It looks like he cut himself,” she says. The doctor shakes her head. “We need to get him out of here, now.”

“Wait,” Morgan protests. “What happened? What’s going on?”

“Your agent has an open wound on his arm,” one of the scientists says clinically as he helps move Reid’s onto a stretcher. “The spores may have infected his bloodstream.”

Derek sucks in a breath, trying to ground himself. “That’s bad, right?”

The scientist can’t meet his eyes as he gives Derek a grim nod.

-

Garcia’s phone rings. She nearly knocks it off the table in her hurry to answer the call. “Hello?” Penelope asks, not even looking at the caller ID.

“Babygirl, it’s Morgan. I need you to get the whole team on this call. Can you do that?”

His urgent tone stops any witty remark she might have made dead in her throat. “Ah - yes - of course,” Penelope stammers. “One sec.” A moment later, everyone is connected. “The whole team is here,” she announces.

“Garcia, what’s going on?” Hotch asks.

“It’s Reid,” Derek answers.

“Did he find the cure?” Prentiss asks. Morgan’s silence answers the question for her. “What happened?”

“We just arrived at the hospital. He had a seizure in the decontamination tent and another in the ambulance,” Morgan reports. “It’s bad, guys. They think the infection might’ve spread to his blood.”

“Oh, no,” JJ breathes.

“What did - what did his doctors say?” Rossi asks.

“All they say is that they’re doing everything they can,” Derek replies frustratedly. “But the other patient, Abby...she died a little while ago. Everyone else who’s been infected is dead.”

A heavy silence falls over the group. Their tenuous grasp on hope, fueled by the few remaining survivors and the doses of Cipro they’d all been given, is gone.

“Are they still looking for the cure at the lab?” Hotch asks.

“A few scientists are still back there,” Morgan says. “Dr. Kimura assured me they won’t give up until they find it.”

“Maybe we should help them,” JJ suggests in a shaky voice. “We know the profile better than they do; maybe we’ll see something that-”

“No,” Aaron interrupts firmly. “They know what to look for and they’ve been trained to handle these situations. Our job is to stop Brown. I know we’re all worried about Reid, but we need to stay focused. It won’t help anyone if we abandon our post and get in the way of the doctors. Understood?”

“But Hotch-” Derek starts to protest.

“It’s not up for debate, Morgan,” Hotch tells him. “There’s nothing you can do for Reid at the hospital right now. We need you more.”

“I’m not leaving him alone, Hotch,” Morgan argues.

The unit chief hesitates. “Garcia, pack up your things and head to the hospital. You can work there and keep an eye on Reid. I need Morgan in the field.”

“Yes, sir,” Penelope replies. “Right away, sir.”

“Morgan, I expect to see you out here as soon as Garcia gets to the hospital, understood?”

Derek knows when he’s been beaten. “Yes, Hotch.” The call ends.

Hotch stares at his phone for a moment. As unit chief of the BAU, he’d grown accustomed to making tough decisions. Hell, he was unit chief _because_ of a tough decision. Gideon would probably still have the position if not for a mistake that had killed six agents in Boston. But he’d never thought he’d have to abandon one of his agents like this.

 _It’s not abandonment_ , he told himself. _You’re not his father or Gideon; you’ll see him again soon. And he has the best doctors. He’s going to be alright._

-

Hotch’s phone starts to vibrate just as he spots the unsub. He flips it open and declines the call without looking at the screen, then shoves it back into his pocket and unholsters his firearm. “Chad Brown,” Hotch calls out. He raises his gun. “Don’t move.”

“Don’t come any closer!” the unsub shouts as he spins to face the agent.

Aaron’s gaze is unwavering. “Chad, put the bag down.”

“I can kill everybody here!” Brown threatens.

“And I will kill you before you do,” Hotch replies calmly.

“No!” shouts the general. “No, weapons down!” He waves his hands at Hotch as he steps between the unsub and the barrel of the gun.

Hotch stares at him with wide eyes as he slowly lowers his firearm. “General, what are you doing?” His phone starts to buzz again, but he ignores it. Whoever is calling him can wait. This unsub clearly can’t.

General Whitworth raises a finger at Aaron as he shoots him a trust-me look. “Call your director! Order from the president! The U.S. Army is taking this man into custody.”

“General, the Army has no authority here,” Hotch protests.

“We do now,” he insists. “He helped create this strain. He’s the only one who can show us how it was made.”

Aaron’s voice is quiet, urgent. “Sir, he is a danger to the country.”

“He is an _asset_ to this country,” Whitworth shouts, turning back to Brown. “And by presidential order, I am taking him in. Sir, please come with me.”

Chad Brown shakes his head uncertainly. “Where?”

“Fort Detrick, sir.” The general’s expression is earnest.

Morgan watches uneasily from a few feet behind Hotch, gun held low. He’s so focused on the unsub that he doesn’t even register the cell phone vibrating in his back pocket. The only thing that matters is the scene in front of him.

“You want me to go to Fort Detrick?” Brown asks. A hesitant smile spreads over his lips.

“We need you, sir, please,” the general replies.

The unsub looks at the bag on his shoulder, then back at Whitworth. “I helped create this,” he asserts. “You have to name it after me.”

“Of course. Standard practice.” General Whitworth takes a step forward. “Now, hand me the bag so we can go on our way.”

Chad Brown slowly lifts the strap of his bag over his head. A soldier takes it from him carefully. “Are there any other samples present?” Whitworth asks.

“No,” Brown replies, shaking his head.

Hotch’s own phone starts to vibrate again, but he ignores it. “Move in,” he orders Derek quietly.

“You understand why I had to show everybody how vulnerable we are - what are you doing?” The unsub’s hands are cuffed behind his back before he can process what is happening. “General! General!” Morgan starts to drag him away. “I can help recreate this for you!” he calls out.

The general turns to Hotch. “So, how did I do?”

Hotch doesn’t reply, flipping open his phone instead to see three missed calls from Garcia and another call currently in progress. “Garcia, it’s Hotch,” he says into the microphone. “Everyone’s safe; we just got Brown.” His frown deepens as he listens to Penelope for a moment. “We’re on our way,” he finally replies before snapping his cell phone shut. “Morgan!”

Derek hands the unsub off to a police officer and turns back to where Hotch is standing on the subway platform. “What is it?”

“Get to the car,” Aaron orders, already starting to head for the stairs. Morgan has to run to catch up. “Garcia’s been trying to call us. We need to get to the hospital.”

-

The hospital is half an hour from the subway station. Between the sirens of the SUV and a blatant disregard for traffic laws, Hotch makes it there in just under twenty. He parks carelessly in the first spot he can find and races alongside Morgan into the building. People dive out of their way as the two men, unmistakably federal agents, fly through the lobby, dash up three flights of stairs, and stop dead in their tracks at the doorway to Reid’s room.

Morgan had thought he was prepared for whatever he was about to see. He had been expecting to see his best friend hooked up to a dozen different machines fighting to keep him alive. He had been expecting to see doctors and nurses hurrying around, testing and monitoring and watching the younger agent from every angle. What he hadn’t been prepared for was the horrifying stillness that greets him instead.

The room is quiet, and the first thing that occurs to Derek is how strange it is that a room containing Spencer Reid could be so quiet. Something is clearly wrong, but his brain has shut down and he can’t figure out what it is. “What happened?” Morgan asks, looking around warily. “Where’s the kid?”

JJ looks up at him with bloodshot eyes. She has one arm wrapped around Penelope, who is sobbing silently into JJ’s shoulder. Crumpled tissues litter the floor around the two of them. “Derek -” she manages to choke out before dissolving into tears. Her head shakes sadly.

“Where’s the kid?” Morgan asks again, a little more insistently. He stares at the empty bed, still not able to put two and two together.

Hotch gently places a hand on his agent’s shoulder. “Morgan,” he says softly.

Derek roughly shrugs him off. “No,” he snaps. “Where is he?”

Rossi, who has been comforting Emily from across the room, lifts his head to look at Morgan. “The doctors did everything they could,” the older profiler says.

Morgan takes a step backward. His eyes dart around uneasily as if hoping one of his other teammates will say something. “What are you saying, Rossi?” he asks roughly. “Where’s Reid?”

“It happened just a few minutes before you arrived.” Rossi’s gaze is gentle. He’s told too many people that their loved ones are gone. “Reid’s dead.”

Derek takes a few more steps backward. “No, he’s not,” Morgan insists. “He can’t be.”

Dave shakes his head. “I’m sorry. He’s dead, Morgan.”

“But - but we got Brown.” His voice is high, almost childish. “I thought the doctors were going to - they were looking for the cure?”

“It was degraded,” Rossi responds grimly. “Completely unusable.”

Morgan’s head shakes violently. “They should try,” he insists. “Did they even try?”

“It wouldn’t have mattered.” Dave’s voice is a little more firm. “Morgan, there was nothing anyone could have done.”

“Don’t say that!” Morgan screams. “He was fine when I left him. He was fine. He was-“

Hotch reaches out again to try and comfort Derek. “Morgan,” he utters softly.

“Shut up!” He lunges for Hotch’s throat, pinning him against a wall. “Shut up!”

The whole team gasps. “Morgan!” Garcia shrieks. “Let go!”

Derek shoves Aaron a little harder. “No!” he shouts, fighting off Rossi’s attempts to pull him away. “This is all his fault!”

“Morgan!” Rossi finally manages to break the man’s grip on Hotch’s neck. He falls back, grabbing his neck, as Dave continues to wrestle with Morgan. Emily starts to stand up, ready to check if Hotch is alright, but he waves her off.

Morgan shoves Rossi away angrily. “Don’t defend him,” he snarls, eyes shooting daggers at his boss.

“Morgan,” Hotch rasps. “I’m sorry-”

“Shut up!” Derek lashes out again. ‘I don’t want to hear it! It’s your fault Reid’s dead, you hear me? You killed him!”

“Derek,” JJ utters quietly. “It’s not Hotch’s fault. He did the best he could.”

He spins around to face her. “Are you kidding me?” he asks in disbelief. “He sent Reid to Nichols’ lab. He made him look for the cure even after he was exposed. He wouldn’t even let us stay with him when the kid was dying!” Morgan lunges at Hotch again, but Rossi and Emily manage to hold him back. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to him. That’s your fault. Yours!”

Emily grabs Morgan’s shoulders, forcing him to face her. “Morgan,” she says, red-rimmed eyes focusing steadfastly on her colleague. “Listen to me. You need to pull yourself together. Reid wouldn’t have wanted this.”

“Reid would have wanted to live!” The forcefulness of his words makes her flinch, but she doesn’t let go.

JJ raises her head to look at Morgan. “He knew the risks. We all did.” She wipes fresh tears from her cheeks.

“Reid made the choice to work the case,” Prentiss adds gently. “He wanted to save those people’s lives. He’s a hero, Morgan.”

The familiar rationalization only angers Derek. “Fuck you,” he spits. He wrenches out of Emily’s grasp. “And fuck your heroes who are always leaving behind the people who love them!”

“Derek,” Garcia whispers brokenly. Morgan reaches for the holster on his belt. “What are you doing?”

He drops the gun to the floor. The loud noise makes Penelope flinch. Derek doesn’t stop, he just moves to extract the other firearm from his ankle holster. He sets it down next to the first. Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his FBI badge. He tosses it at Hotch, who catches it automatically. “Morgan, don’t do this,” he warns. “You’re making a mistake.”

Morgan looks around the room. Garcia and JJ look shocked, while Prentiss and Rossi just seem sad. If Reid were there, would he be surprised by what Derek was doing? Would he be disappointed?

But then again, if Reid were there none of this would be happening. Morgan swallows that bitter thought as he glares at Hotch one last time before turning away. “Takes one to know one, Hotch,” he remarks. And then he turns his back on his team.


End file.
